Galileo s astronomical and mechanical theories, and his subsequent trial for heresy, profoundly impacted the development of European science, philosophy, and theology, especially in seventeenth-century France, where it shaped the thought of some of its most important writers. France s long tradition of Gallican independence from Rome allowed Copernican and Galilean ideas to be discussed and promoted more freely than elsewhere. Placing those ideas in a national context, this book s individual chapters are devoted to tracing their development in the writings of Mersenne, Gassendi, Peiresc, and...